FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an exemplary system drag reduction (SDR) device for reducing drag of a vehicle 202 due to wind resistance. Such SDRs include a rear diffuser 102 that directs airflow toward the rear of the vehicle at large angles and from the top side of the trailer only.
An aim of the rear diffuser 102 is to direct the flow at a high angle of attack (conventionally around 60 degrees) and increase the pressure at the rear of the vehicle 202. The SDR rear diffuser has several openings 104 that reduce the turbulence of the airflow and make the airflow more laminar. Manufacturers of such SRDs have claimed that their products reduce fuel consumption by 1.4-1.6 liters per 100 kilometers.
However, such SDR rear diffusers have a number of drawbacks. For one, the SDR rear diffuser 102 directs airflow at a high angle of attack, which is not efficient in reducing the total drag by any significant degree. Also, the high angle of attack applies high force on the top rear diffuser 102, which increases the chance of breaking the installed device. Moreover, the SDR rear diffuser 102 does not allow other drag reducing devices, such as a tailboat, to be installed along with the SDR rear diffuser 102 to product a combined drag-reduction effect. In addition, the SDR rear diffuser 102 only focuses on the benefit of the airflow coming from the top of the trailer of the vehicle 202; however, there are other locations that can also benefit from reduction in airflow to reduce the total aerodynamic drag.
The above-described deficiencies of today's SDR systems are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.